Best Friends For Life
by GirlOnFire09
Summary: What would have happened if Gale had been chosen instead of Peeta in the reaping? Would Katniss have fallen in love with Gale? Would she have died? Would he have died? Maybe even both, read and find out.
1. Reaping

**This takes place right after Katniss has volunteered to take Prim's place as tribute, right as the male tribute is about to be called. **

I watch Effie as she swirls her hand through the papers, she grasps one and pulls it out. She takes a deep excited breath before calling out the fate of one male, "Gale Hawthorne!" It takes a second for the name to register in my mind, the rush of my sister's name being called and then me volunteering is still running through my blood. As the name sinks in, everything freezes. My heart nearly stops and I feel a lump in my throat, I look out into the pool of people and I spot the movement of Gale making his somber way up to the stage and next to me.

I look at Gale and he looks at me, we both have the same expressions of hatred and sorrow. Hatred for the Capitol for putting us in this awful situation, and sadness to know that at least one of us will not be returning to our district.

"Any volunteers?" Effie's voice breaks through my thoughts, and I hopefully look into the crowd to see if anyone will take Gale's place, though I know deep down no one would do that. "Oh well, we have one volunteer for District 12, Katniss Everdeen, and Gale Hawthorne!" Again she expects an applause, but nobody says a thing. I look into the crowd and the usual appearance of relief on the faces of the youth is not found among any of them. They all know how close me and Gale are, and I can tell how badly they feel for us. Among some girls, I see them weeping for us, and even a few boys have tears running down their faces. I try to ignore this whole scene as I am told to shake Gale's hand. As our hands touch, he jerks me towards him and embraces me, he's strong arms around me make me feel as though I'm protected, but I know I'm not. I wrap my arms around his waist and hold him until the peacekeepers tear us apart and take us into the Justice Building.

I look at Gale as they take me farther down the hall and before I am put into a room by myself I see him mouth to me "It will be okay, I'll see you soon," I just nod at him as they throw me into a room to wait for my family.

My mother and sister come and go, as does Gale's mother. She only came in briefly, tears running down her cheeks as she gave me a huge hug. She only said one thing before she left, but I'll never forget it "One of you need to come home, and for your mothers sake, I hope it is you." With that she left me alone in the room, waiting to be taken to the Capitol.

The door opened again and I stood up and was ready to leave, when I saw his face and stopped dead in my tracks. Peeta Mellark, was standing at the door, looking shaky and pale. I noticed him before to be one of the few boys with tears streaming down his face, but I tried to push it out of my mind, but now the image rushes back into my head. Why had he been crying? Was it happiness that he had not been chosen? Sadness that two friends were going to have to battle to the death? Had he remembered that night so many years ago when he saved my life? And now, what was he doing here?

"Peeta?" I ask him hesitantly, he looks at my shocked as if he hadn't expected me to know his name. He hesitates slightly then takes a couple steps towards me.

"I'm sorry Katniss, I am so sorry," I begins to apoligise, but I have no idea what for.

"What are you sorry about Peeta? You didn't do anything," I try and make sense of his reaction, but I can't.

"I should have volunteered for Gale, I was stunned in the moment seeing you up there, I'm so sorry," He says this like he owes me something, nothing I can think of would make him owe me anything, quite the opposite really.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," I try to calm him down, though I'm not sure why I have to.

"Damn it Katniss!" He's screaming now, I'm taken aback "I should have volunteered to save you again!" As he says this, I know he remembers. He remembers the day he gave me the bread, and saved mine and my family's lives. I don't know why I do it, but I walk forward and I take his hands and look into his eyes.

"You've kept me alive this long, it's more than I could have ever asked for from a boy I've never talked to," at first I was saying this just to calm him down, but as the words come out of my mouth I realize just how true they are. "You truly are a wonderful man, and I'm sorry I never got the chance to thank you before now. Thank you for saving my life, my sister's life, and my mother's life. You owe me absolutely nothing, but I want to ask you a favor Peeta."

"Anything," He replies looking me dead in the eye, and I know he means he'd do anything for me. I don't understand why, but I'll take it.

"If my sister, is ever in the position I was in, I ask that you please do the same for her that you did for me," I know he knows what I mean, and he nods. I don't know why I do it, but he doesn't fight it. I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him lightly on the mouth. Before I have a chance to process what I've done, the peacekeepers come in and grab him and drag him out of the room, I catch one last glimpse of his face and see a sad smile vanishing just as he does.

**Hope you enjoyed, reviews are always appreciated!**


	2. Beginning Of The Journey

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I'll try and update once or twice a week, I'm working on two fanfictions right now, so I will be rotating on which one I update, I promise I will continue though. Enjoy!**

I don't have a chance to process what has just happened as the door opens and once again it's not a peacekeeper, this time it's the mayor's daughter, Madge. She looks about as confused as I feel. She looks at my face and her expression immediately changes to urgency. She pulls out the mockingjay pin and tells me to wear it as my token from District 12, of course I agree, though I'm not entirely sure why. She's about to walk out the door, but she stops and turns back to me with the same expression she entered with.

"Was that Peeta Mellark I saw walking out of here before me?" She begins to walk towards me, obviously wanting to know if there's anything going on.

"Yeah," I say sitting down and she sits down next to me.

"I didn't even know you knew him," Madge isn't much of the gossiping type, but I know I'm one of her only good friends and she likes to know what's going on in my life.

"I really don't," I admit to her "He helped me out once a long time ago and apparently he remembers that, and did it as more than just a good deed."

"You must have made quite the impression on him," Madge smiles at something and I give her a questioning look. "He looked as if somebody had just torn his heart out as he walked out of this room, I'm sure it was more than just a good deed." As she says this, the door opens and a peacekeeper rushes Madge out the door. She whispered good luck as she was pulled out the door and I sat waiting, knowing surely that the next time the door would open, it would not be another friendly face.

I'm alone on the way to the train station and I make sure to keep my face free of tears and any other emotion. I push away everything that happened in the Justice Building, knowing that whatever just happened doesn't mean a thing because I'll never be back. That's when I realize I may have just made a huge mistake. Peeta obviously had some sort of attachment to me, and I kissed him. I just meant it as a thank you for everything he had done for me and my family but what if he took it as more? What if he thinks he has a chance with me? Even if I felt that way back, there's no point in him getting caught up on a girl who is walking to her death.

I'm shaken from my thoughts as I'm ushered to the train station. Finally I see Gale again, and his face is stern and clear of tears just as mine is. We meet each-other in the middle, knowing all cameras are on us. He reaches out for my hand and I let him take it. We stand there solemnly until the cameras have died down, and then we are led to the train where we will be transported to the Capitol. I am taken aback by the beauty of everything on the train. I look at Gale's face and I can tell he is also.

Effie shows us to our rooms and tells us she will come get us when dinner is ready. I close the door and look around the room. Even though it's on a train this room is still bigger than the largest room in my house. I have my own bathroom, and a shower. I've never taken a shower before, and I'm not exactly sure how it works, I'll figure it out later. I open the drawers and see that even though I've had nothing packed and sent here, my drawers are full of clothes that I never dreamed I'd be able to wear.

There's a light knock on the door and it opens slowly and Gale walks in. We walk straight into each others arms and hug even tighter than we had on the stage at the reaping. At last I allow the tears to roll down my face, and I feel Gale's body shaking against mine, and I know he's crying as well. I don't know how long we stand there, a couple minutes, a couple hours, all I know is it ends too soon as there's a knock on the door and Effie's chirping voice calling me to dinner. I pull away from Gale and look up at him, really looking at him for the first time since his name was called. His face is pale and worried; it looks as if he's aged five years since the reaping. He wipes the tears from my face and puts his forehead against mine.

"One of us will make it back Katniss, I promise you," With that he walks out of my room and leaves me there staring after him. I go into the bathroom and turn on the sink facet, I rinse my face free of all salty tears and pat it dry with a towel. I return to the drawers and grab the first pair of pants and a shirt I can find and change out of my reaping day dress. I try to ignore what Gale said about one of us returning, while I like the thought of returning, it's the number that makes me nauseous.

The food we eat at dinner is the most delicious I've ever tasted. I eat as much as I can fit in my stomach, which is a great deal. I need to start thinking about strategy and knowing that every girl around my age from the other districts is probably at least 40 pounds bigger than me; I need to eat a lot. The fullness I feel is overwhelming, a feeling I've never felt before. I feel sick, but in a surprisingly good way.

After dinner is over, we all walk into a room to watch the reaping from the other districts to size up out competitors. As soon as the tributes from districts one walk onto the stage, I grab Gale's hand tightly, knowing I am no match for the girl and that he is no match for the guy. The same happens for district two, and district four. The careers are always big and very skilled, but this year, maybe just because I know I'll be up against them, they look a whole lot stronger than usual. There are a few tributes who I can tell are in the same boat as me and Gale, very little training and very poor nutrition. I watch as a small girl, around Prim's age walks up as tribute for District 11. My heart stops as I wait for someone to volunteer for her, nobody does. Before I know it I see myself on screen volunteering for Prim, and then holding Gale on stage and then being dragged away. And now here I am, staring blankly at the screen trying to make sense of everything when I hear a noise at the door.

Haymitch comes in complaining about dinner being over, as he vomits all over the carpet. Effie makes some snide remark about how lucky we are to have him as our mentor and leaves us alone with him. "Shall I go get someone from the Capitol to help clean this up?" I ask Gale as Haymitch begins to stir and he leans down to help him up.

"I think that would be best, I'll carry him back to his room and they can take care of the rest," I walk quickly down the halls to find a Capitol attendant. I come across a blonde male, around the age of 25 and I tell him what happened and I ask if he can help. He doesn't say a word, just nods and head in the direction of the incident. I walk back to my room and sit on my bed, waiting for Gale to come see me. He doesn't fail, he knocks lightly and walks into my room again and sits down on the bed next to me.

"How do you feel?" He asks me.

"Well a little nauseous, they I'm not sure if it's from all the food I ate or at the sight of our mentor in his natural habitat," this makes Gale laugh, and for the first time all day, I smile as well. I want to enjoy my last few days with Gale, my best friend. I don't want to survive this and have to remember for the rest of my life that I spent my last few good days weeping in self-pity instead of enjoying them with my best friend. I'm sure he wouldn't want that if the situation is reversed either.

"If there's anyone I could spend my last few days of life with, I'm glad it's going to be you Katniss," Gale puts his arm around my shoulders as he says this and I lean my head on his shoulder.

"Don't talk like that Gale, you could make it out of this alive," while this is a long shot, Gale is pretty great with snares and knives, he could kill easily and stay fed throughout the games.

"Not if it means that you'd die," even though he whispers this sentence I can still here his voice catch in his throat. I pull back from him and look him dead in the eyes.

"Gale Hawthorne, we are not going to spend our last few days together mourning over our potential and probable deaths!" I scold him.

"Well, I see how optimistic you are," Gale catches on and we both laugh. The thought of how calm we are right now, how I know that one or both of us will be dead within two weeks unnerves me even more. I push the thoughts out of my mind, and focus on one thing: Gale.

"So remind me again, why didn't we run away this morning?" I ask him, thinking back to our morning hunt, which seemed as if it was weeks ago.

"Oh let me see… I think you rejected that idea right as it came out of my mouth," he smiles at me. "Regretting it yet?"

"Oh no, not at all," I smile at him "I mean, the capitol would have found us and killed us when they didn't see us at the reaping, I'd much rather be a fun part of the Capitols entertainment for a few weeks!" He squeezes my shoulder and grimaces at the sarcasm in my voice.

"We just need to go into the game as hunting partners, just this time, with large, strong, vicious animals that are fighting us back," I nod at him.

"Partners?" I ask him.

"Until the end." He whispers back and I wrap my arms around him. I don't want to think of what he actually meant by those words. I can't imagine ever being able to kill Gale, but I don't know if he could kill me if it was his life and his family that depended on it. His mother needs him, and he knows that. Maybe that's just enough that he could kill me in the end if it was left to it. Though as I think about it, maybe that's how it should be, how it would be best. I know he would take care of my mother and Prim and that he'd be strong enough to get through it. If I went back to the District without him, I might be as useless as my mother was when my father died. I shake these thoughts from my head and try to think of something else to say to Gale.

"Favorite thing you ate today?" I ask. He takes a second to respond.

"I honestly don't think I even tasted anything, I was eating so fast," That was probably very true. He was shoveling food in his mouth even faster than I was. We lay down with his arm still around my shoulders, staring at the ceiling. "Are you worried about you mother?"

"No," I say honestly "I made her promise me she wouldn't abandon Prim this time, because I won't be there to fix things. I also made arrangements so that if something does happen, I trust that Prim will be alright." As soon as the last sentence comes out of my mouth, I wish I hadn't of said it.

"Who did you make arrangements with?" How am I supposed to explain to Gale about my conversation with Peeta, it doesn't even make sense to me.

"Madge, she came to see me before we left and gave me this pin," I show him the mockingjay on my nightstand. "She's the closest thing I have besides for you, and I needed somebody I could count on." Why am I lying to him? I don't have anything to be hiding, all I did was talk to Peeta, and ask him for help, and kiss him. That's where the problem is. Here I am lying in a bed with Gale, thinking about how not even a few hours ago I had given my first kiss to a boy I've never even talked to before. That's something I could never tell Gale, and from the way things look right now, I don't think he'll ever have to know.

"I'm sure she'll stick to her promise," Gale breathes deeply and I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat. But the only thing I can think of right now, is not Madge, is not Peeta, not my mother, or even Prim. The only thought going through my mind is of what Gale said only minutes ago, _Until The End._


	3. Train Ride

I wake up and look over, expecting Gale to still be lying next to me, but he's gone. I'm not exactly sure when he left. It could have been right after I'd fallen asleep or just minutes ago. I shake the thought of Gale from my mind and step into my very own bathroom, which I still can't quite believe I have. I look at the shower and I'm baffles by the knobs that I see. Every single knob has a label or picture on it, some have different sorts of flowers like roses and daisies, others have words like 'foam' or 'bubbles' and then there's a thermometer that you can move a dial to that I'm guessing heats your water to your desired temperature.

I walk out of the shower, what must be at least an hour later and smelling like every single flower in the world. The water felt so good, and it smelled amazing, how can I feel this calm and relaxed when I'm going to be placed in an arena to be killed in just a week? Then it hits me- to the capitol we're like cattle being fattened up for slaughter. Except instead of being fattened up, we're being beautified for their benefit of watching us. No one from the capitol wants to see something ugly, unless it's beaten and bloody. If by some chance someone from the outer districts were to win, they would want a beautiful victor, someone they could continue to like and cheer on and be happy with. Not someone like, me.

Gale on the other hand, he's tall, muscular, and very handsome. Not just handsome to District 12, but handsome in Capitol terms as well. He be loved right off the bat, he won't have to do a thing, which is good, because I know he won't. He won't try to sell himself off, to make them like him. Most likely he'll try and get them to hate him, to tell them how awful he thinks they are. I start to pray that he'll have some sense to try and get the game-makers to like him.

I walk out of my room and make my way to where we had dinner last night, and sure enough breakfast is set up and Gale, Effie, and Haymitch are sitting and eating together.

"Glad you could make it sweetheart," I hear Haymitch's voice for the first time without a slur. Then I see him pull a flask out of his jacket and poor a clear liquid into his cup, well it won't be for long. Gale stands up and pulls out a chair for me and I just look at him and sit down.

"Oh a chivalrous man! Such good manners!" Effie chirps at Gale, very excited. I catch Gale's eye and we both stifle a laugh, she doesn't notice. I think back to all the other tributes from our district, most have been very young and very poor. I'm sure Effie hasn't seen any good manners from District 12 in a very long time, if ever. "While talking about manners," Effie cuts into my thoughts "I thought we might establish some rules about sleeping arrangements." I look at Gale and I can tell a blush is creeping on my face, he just grins. "I think it best if boys stay in boys rooms and girls stay in girls rooms." At this we both bust out laughing, as does Haymitch.

"Oh common Effie!" Haymitch blurts "Let the kids have some fun! They'll be dead soon!" Effie purses her lips at this statement and looks down at the table.

"Better to die without any gossip around," Effie mutters to her plate. I try not to let the fact that they're talking about our death so freely and as if it's just like any other day and any other conversation.

"How do we survive?" Gale asks bluntly, he is looking directly at Haymitch, his eyes burning.

"Well, well, kid, I think both of you have no hope of that," Haymitch says with a slight smile, it makes me feel sick.

"Why's that? We're both strong, excellent hunters, I'm good with knives, Katniss is good with a bow, why don't we have a chance?" Gale is turning red and I can tell he's getting angry with the doubt that Haymitch has in us. I am too, but for now I'll let Gale handle this.

"You're personality," Haymitch says to Gale, then turns to me "Yours too sweetheart."

"What do you mean my personality is going to keep me from surviving?" I finally have to put my word in. This doesn't make much sense to me.

"Sponsors, you know what those are right?" I nod "While you might be good with a bow and arrow, they only care about your personality, and what you look like. If you don't catch their attention, somebody else will, and that's were their money will go, to save one of your competitors lives. So start smiling kids, that's all that's going to save you now." Haymitch gets up from the table and stumbles down the hallway. I can't think of anything say.

"Well I'm off to check our schedule! I've got to make sure everything stays on time!" Effie follows Haymitch's path down the hallway.

I look at Gale and his face is scrunched up and I can tell he's thinking, scrutinizing even what Haymitch has just said. "I'm dead Katniss."

"What are you talking about Gale?"

"They're going to hate me the instant they see me," He glared out the window.

"Gale, you're handsome and strong, everything they want in a victor," He try and relax him.

"Until I open my mouth. If I say one damn word, I'll be the last one of anybody's list of who they want to sponsor," I try to argue, but he cuts me off "No Katniss, it's true. I can't pretend to like these people; they're terrible, horrible, creatures. No mere human could sit there and cheer on a bunch of teenagers killing each-other, it's not natural. They're monsters, and I'm going to let them know it."

"Gale, just think this through before you decide anything," I'm nearly begging him "Do it for your family, do it for my family."

"Then your thinking the same thing Katniss," Gale glares at me "How can you tell me to be optimistic about this and think it through when you've already declared yourself dead with me?"

"Because you have the looks, you have the strength, and you have the mentality to do this Gale, you do." I tell him this honestly and strongly.

"So do you Katniss," Gale swiftly stands up, kisses me on the cheek then walks down the hallway towards his room. I stare after him, wanting to call him back, argue with him about what he has said, but the kiss he placed on my cheek stuns me momentarily. I've never felt Gale's lips before, they were warm and soft, and they felt good against my cheek. But as soon as I thought about Gale kissing me, the image of Peeta popped into my head. I had kissed him only a day ago, but it feels like it was years ago. I need to block it out of my mind, get the guilt away from me. The guilt for kissing Peeta, and leaving, knowing I will never return. And the guilt of not telling Gale about what happened, and hiding it by lying.

I finally make my way back to my room and lie down in my bed and stare out the window, watching trees go by. Hours pass and I'm called to lunch. After lunch I go back to my room until dinner. After dinner though, as I walk back to my room, I realize Gale is following closely behind. I try to ignore it, hoping he's going to his own room. I don't know if I can face him right now, or talk to him about suggestions about survival or which one of us has a shot, and I most definitely can't look at his lips.

I go to close my door but Gale stops it with his hand. "Trying to avoid me catnip?" he says teasingly.

"No, I just didn't want to discuss our deaths anymore," I say, more lightly then I intended.

"Well, I just thought I'd give Effie something to yell at us about tomorrow, keep up for energy you know," Gale closes the door behind him and smiles at me. I can't help but smiling back, his smile is contagious.

"Too bad she doesn't really know what goes on in here, she might not be so unpleasant about it then," I lie back down on my bed staring at the ceiling.

"Well I mean, technically we _did _sleep together last night," Gale winks at me and I roll my eyes at him. "I'm sure that's all she was thinking."

"Oh yes, she just definitely thought we spent our last few nights alive cuddling," I retort.

"What else is there to do alone at night?" Gale asks innocently.

"Oh you know, plot evil schemes against the Capitol," I smirk.

"Well damn, we did that too." Gale laughs as he lies down next to me "Guess we are just some dirty immoral people."

I don't respond, I just stare up at the ceiling trying to forget about what my life holds for me if I were to somehow manage to get out of the arena. I'd have Prim and my mother. I'd have lost my best friend, my hunting partner, and potential future? I'd never thought about Gale romantically before now, but being in such close quarters it's kind of hard not to. All the girls at school always asked me about what happened in the woods, all expecting some sort of horny teenagers diary to spill out of my mouth. They were always disappointed and disgusted as I'd described the animals we'd killed and skinned. Maybe that's why I didn't have many other friends. Except Madge, she never asked about me and Gale and I never felt obligated to say anything about him, I always assumed she knew that there was really nothing there.

There's one person who pops into my head that I still don't understand. That I still don't know what he will be to me if I return. Peeta Mellark. Was he just caught up in the moment by everything? Saddened by the fact that he had tried to save my life once and now that was all in vain. Or was there something more? Something deeper than I had ever realized or could possibly image? I shake the thought from my head as Gale speaks again.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Gale is up on his elbow, looking at me intently.

"Oh, nothing," I say, and I can feel my face getting hot. And I blush harder as I realize how my blush could be taken by him right now. He probably thinks I'm daydreaming about him. I quickly add something to cover for my embarrassed look "I was thinking about what would happen if I somehow managed to get home, how different my life would be, my families life."

"And how much you'd miss me?"

"I can't think about that right now," I barely manage to whisper out. I can feel my eyes starting to sting and I know tears are soon to come. "Why did it have to be us? Why were the odds against both of us? It's not fair!" I'm now sobbing into his shirt as he folds his arms around me.

"I know, I know," Gale whispers into my ear. "It's not fair; it's never fair with the Capitol."

I hold back my sobs and pull away from Gale, I look him directly in the eye "It's got to change." I don't have a second to pull away or even respond as Gale puts his hand behind my head and pulls me towards his face. His lips meet mine, and I'm frozen. He doesn't seem to mind my stillness, he just presses me down on the bed and kisses me deeper. I finally regain feeling in my body and I have to make the decision to join in or to pull away. The force that Gale has on me right now, I feel as if I only have one choice. I move my lips against his and I allow for my mouth to open and for his tongue to explore. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I know he does. I try not to think of the amount of girls he's kissed before, but I can't help as a list begins to form in my mind. I'm barely even focused on the kiss anymore, I'm just letting Gale take control, he doesn't seem to notice. And then another list pops into my head, a list of who I've kissed before Gale. Only one name is on that list, Peeta Mellark. I shudder as his name goes through my head and Gale stops kissing me and my reasoning floods back. I sit up quickly and push him off of me "You need you leave."

"What?" Gale says surprised "Katniss I thought-"

"Now!" I stand up and walk to the bathroom slamming the door. I wait next to the bathroom door for a few minutes, I finally here my bedroom door closing, meaning Gale has left. I walk out of the bathroom and lock my bedroom door and lie down. I try to block out everything that happened today as I try to fall asleep. No matter how hard I try, everything runs cycles through my mind. It's like a never ending movie reel that I can't turn off. Over and over again.


End file.
